//------------------------------// // The Flare changer // Story: FireFlare: an origin // by Piggynator //------------------------------// It was the start of another day. Flare woke up, had breakfast and got ready for school. "I hope this day is better than the last" Flare said with a sigh. He was reading a comic when his mom came in "Flare it's time for school" she said "ok mom" he replied. He put his comic away and left for school making sure to trot a bit faster than usual when he passed the park. As he passed the park he heard hoofsteps behind him. That got him galloping "not today, please not today" he said to himself as he sped up. He rounded a corner and started to climb a drainpipe to escape. But they were soon pursuing him. So he bucked the pipe a few times and sent it falling down. "Phew" he said to himself as he continued up the pipe. He jumped down onto some boxes and continued to school and passed a shop. "This jacket is so cool" Flare thought to himself. He wished he could buy it but he had no money. He sighed and carried on his way. When he arrived at school, he was greeted by one of his only friends. They did their secret hoof shake and went to class. Flare sat in his seat and waited for class to start. But he sank in his seat when he saw a face he had wished he hadn't seen. There, at the door, was the pony that had a thing for bullying other ponies. He turned his head, scanning for somepony to mess with. Finally, his eyes snapped onto Flare, who by this time had already started to put away his doodle pad. He trotted over confidently and sat next to him. "What you got there dweeb?" He laughed. Flare stood his ground and looked back at him. "Why does it concern you?" Flare retorted in a shaky voice "Leave me alone!". The other pony stood up and soon they were practically in eachothers faces "heh. You cant tell me what to do dweeb. I run your world so shut up, before i knock your head off. Dont think for a second i forgot what happened on the way to school" He grunted back. "What gives you the right to pick on others? what so fun about it?" Flare angrily shouted "Eh. Its just something I do. Now move aside dweeb" the bully grunted back. He shoved Flare back and started rummeging through his bag "h-hey! thats all my belongings!" Flare said through gritted teeth. "Na I'm good. Now lets see: pencils, paper, lunch. And whats this" he sniggered as he started to pull out something pink. Flare started to see red and soon, he dove and tackled the bully. Flare went to punch him but was soon stopped by the bully. He laughed and pulled him off before he punched Flare in the face. "Try that again, and i promise you, I will hurt you" He grunted. Flare held his cheeck in pain and gritted his teeth. Soon tears formed in his eyes. "SH-SHUT UP!" Flare shouted between his tears "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!" The bullies laughed and picked up his bag. Flare picked himself up "p-please. Just stop." he whispered. As he stood up, the bully turned , dropped his bag, and galloped off laughing. As he dried his eyes, he looked over his stuff. Mostly it was stories and pictures but he brought something quite precious him. A plush pig that he got when he was a very young. But to his surprise it was in there. Breathing a sigh of relief, he sat back in his seat and waited for class to start. The day went as it normally would: He atteneded class, had his lunch, and attended some more classes. The bell rung and Flare said goodbye to his friends. He decided to take a shortcut through the park as he wanted to have a different walk home but as he was walking, he saw a glow in the bushes. Curious he looked in there to see an orange crystal there. Suddenly the crystal shot into his chest winding him. Writhing in pain he looked at his chest, only to see it going inside his chest. "I wonder what that was" he said to himself. After that ordeal, he felt his chest. It felt warm, warm and strong. "Whats with my left wrist " asked himself. He checked it to see a weird looking device on it. He tried to pull it off but it was stuck. "This reminds of that one power ponies comic, I wonder how it works" he asked himself. As he picked himself up, he heard a scream. "SOMEPONY HELP ME!" the voice shrieked. Without a moment's thought, he leaped into action and galloped off to the sound. He stopped and rounded a corner to see somepony getting robbed. Filled with rage, Flare flipped his scarf over his mouth, galloped over and jumped. Only to see that weird device glowing a strange orange and turning his hooves red and very hot. The baddie turned and saw what looked like a fireball come flying towards his face. The baddie only had a split second to react but failed. The hoof thwacked the villain and sent him flying. Flare felt brilliant as the pony who was getting robbed gave him a lovely hug and thanked him by giving him 10 bits. "Hey look, your flank" she said. Flare turned quickly to see his cutie mark appearing, " MY CUTIEMARK!" Flare shouted with glee He galloped off with speed in his face. "My cutiemark is amazing" he shouted to himself as he raced off home with a smile in his stride. He burst home and went straight to the living room. "MOM! MOM MY CUTIE MARK. IT'S HERE" this got his mom down the stairs faster than a bullet. She looked at it with surprise and asked "how did you get it?". He explained to her when he found the crystal and what the device did and when the baddie was sent flying by his hoof. "Thats amazing, as a reward, we can go and buy that jacket you have always had your eye on" she said to him. They left the house and headed down to the shop. Flare was bouncing to and from the shop and when they got home, Flare was really eager to put on the jacket. He slipped it on and beamed with pride. He was just so happy that he could barely sleep. The next day he was all the talk because of his cutiemark. "Maybe this was the break i was looking for" he asked himself as he sat at his desk with his two friends. A few years passed when Flare got his 'flare changer' as he calls it and suddenly he found himself in the same forest he found the crystal in. "memories are flowing" he thought to himself as he trotted along the path and found a cave. "FLARE POWER" he shouted and his hooves glowed a bright red. He entered the cave with a little fear and ventured onwards. The cave went on for a little over ten minutes and came across another crystal similar to his "flare crystal". He went over to it and the crystal sprang up and fazed into him like before. Before he knew it, the flare changer changed itself. It became a slight bit different and flare wanted to try it. After finding his way out of the cave a thought passed over him. "If the flare changer has changed, shouldn't i get new powers?". As that thought passed through his head, the flare changer glowed a bright orange. "If the flare changer changed, i'm changing the shout". "FLARE CHANGER! ACTIVATE!" he clicked the button and he felt different. Like something was going down his body. He looked to see a circle of fire going towards his body. It didn't feel hot, it felt a little warm. He went to rub his eyes only to see a sort of bandanna go over his eyes and become see through. He ran over to a pond and saw himself in his reflection. He was red with a black bandanna over his eyes, even though the bandanna was see through. "These new powers are incredible" he said. He went back home and relaxed on the sofa and thought to himself "I wonder why it chose me? " as he fell asleep. A few years went by as Flare went up to the graduation podium and collected his graduation certificate. "With all the money i've been saving during my job as a plumber really helped to buy an empty shop in the small town of ponyville."that is where i will continue my life" he said to himself.